SimCity is a .

=Description=

SimCity was originally developed by game designer Will Wright. The inspiration for SimCity came from a feature of the game Raid on Bungeling Bay that allowed players to create their own maps. Wright soon found he enjoyed creating maps more than playing the actual game, and SimCity was born.

The game sparked a new paradigm in computer gaming by creating a game that could neither be won nor lost. This was not immediately recognized by the video game publisher, who did not forsee the possibility of successfully marketing and selling such a game. Brøderbund declined to publish the title when Wright proposed it, and he pitched it to a range of major game publishers without success. Finally, founder Jeff Braun of then-tiny Maxis agreed to publish SimCity as one of two initial games for the company.

Wright and Braun returned to Brøderbund to formally clear the rights to the game in 1988, when SimCity was near completion. Broderbund executives Gary Carlston and Don Daglow saw that the title was infectious and fun, and signed Maxis to a distribution deal for both of its initial games.

The subsequent success of SimCity speaks for itself: Sim games of all types were spawned—with Will Wright and Maxis developing a myriad of titles including SimEarth , SimFarm , SimTown , Streets of SimCity , SimCopter , SimAnt , SimLife , SimIsle , SimPark , SimSafari , SimThemePark , The Sims and SimMars , which was never released. They also obtained Licenses for some titles developed in Japan, such as SimTower and Let s Take The A-Train (just called A-Train outside of Japan). The most recent development is The Sims , and its sequel, The Sims 2 .

SimCity is predominantly a single-player game (the exception being a Network Edition of SimCity 2000 , and an obscure [http://catalog.com/hopkins/simcity/simcity-announcement.html Unix port] of the original SimCity ). SimCity 4 also makes an attempt at multiplayer gaming with the ability to share regional maps and cities with other players, allowing players to collaborate, but not play in real time.

In 1990, SimCity won the Origins Award for Best Military or Strategy Computer Game of 1989.

=Objective=

The objective of SimCity , as the name of the game suggests, is to build and design a .

=Later versions=

For other Sim games, see the list of Sim games.

=Parodies=

Sim Brick was an extremely simple parody of SimCity . Developed by Sensible Software, it was only ever distributed on a cover disk with an issue of Amiga Power . The game play consists of an ant wandering around the screen, until players press the mouse button, at which point a brick falls down and squashes the ant.

The writers of The Simpsons also lampooned Maxis around the time when they were releasing a plethora of Sim titles. Virtual Doctor , a program used in an episode, was cited as from the creators of SimSandwich

In the computer game Space Quest , the main character, Roger, has the opportunity to look through the bargain bin of a software store. Among the titles is SimSim , a simulator where players get to design simulators.

=Legacy=

SimCity inspired a new genre of video games. Software toys that were open-ended with no set objective were developed trying to duplicate SimCitys success. The most successful, however, was most definitely Wright s own The Sims , which went on to be the best selling computer game of all time.

The ideas pioneered in SimCity have been incorporated into real-world applications as well. For example, VisitorVille simulates a city based on website statistics.

=See also=

=External links=